A who’s-who of Colorado companies — and major political players — are donating huge sums to fete Gov. John Hickenlooper next week as part of the Democrat’s inauguration festivities.

Thirteen companies are donating $25,000 or more and 44 companies gave $10,000 or more to host a dinner and concert the evening after Hickenlooper takes the oath for his second term. Another 11 companies are contributing $2,500 or more for the events, according to a list of donors disclosed Thursday.

The private money totals at least $400,000 — but organizers of the inauguration events are refusing to disclose exactly how much each donor gave to Colorado Up, the nonprofit hosting the event.

The large donors are far more prevalent than four years ago when Hickenlooper first took office.

Gov. John Hickenlooper greets Rep. Lois Landgraf, R-Fountain, at the Colorado State Legislative Dinner at the state fair in August. (Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post)

Gov. John Hickenlooper hasn’t pulled ahead in the polls, but he continues to outpace Republican challenger Bob Beauprez in campaign cash. In the reporting period from Sept. 24 to Sept. 29, the governor raised $311,109 to push his re-election campaign total to nearly $4.5 million.

Beauprez’s camp raised $199,899 during the period, and, so far, just under $1.16 million, along with a $527,000 loan he gave to his campaign. The Republican nominee has $263,375 left in his war chest, while Hickenlooper has $360,289.

Update: Making Colorado Great’s Michael Huttner was out of phone range Friday and got back to me Saturday on Beauprez campaign’s claim the political ads about Heritage Bank were wrong and stations should pull it down.

Here’s what he had to say via e-mail:

“We understand that Banker Bob Beauprez’s record of protecting the wealthy and well connected at the expense of hardworking Colorado families is something he’s afraid of people seeing.

“It’s unfortunate that when Beauprez went to Congress he supported a law to loosen regulations on banks like his own– which the Denver Post pointed out was ‘an ethical blind spot.’ [DP 6/11/2006)

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Gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez isn’t taking smack talk that links the bank he and his wife once owned to his voting record in Congress. Friday the campaign’s lawyer, Peter Krumholz, sent a cease-and-desist letter to TV stations airing the ad. The Beauprez campaign issued a press release saying the spot “falsely and shamefully attacks Bob.”

Gov. John Hickenlooper took a commanding lead from late July to late August, raising more than twice the tally of Republican challenger Bob Beauprez.

The fundraising may have been fueled, at least in part, by the closeness of the race — surprising, given that Beauprez lost the governor’s race to non-incumbent Bill Ritter in 2006 by 17 percentage points.

She found the Republican State Leadership Committee that gave GOP nominee Wayne Williams $550 was registered as a so-called 527 group, which can raise unlimited money from secret donors, but it can’t donate directly to a candidate. The group could have registered as a political action committee. With that status it could donate to candidates, but it would be limited in the amount of money it receives from its donors, as well as facing financial reporting requirements it would avoid as a 527.

Joe Neguse announced Tuesday he has beaten Scott Gessler. Granted, Gessler was the Republican who won the secretary of state’s race in 2010, and Neguse is facing a different Republican, El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Wayne Williams, in the fall.

Neguse issued a press release touting the fact he’s raised $294,117 so far, including $33,261 in the final two weeks before the primary. Four years ago, Gessler raised $280,772. (The incumbent in 2010, Bernie Buescher, raised $353,329.)

Williams reported $88,046 in the last campaign finance report two weeks ago. He had $48,905 cash on hand.

Baby-kissing campaign season has begun, and here’s a photo of incumbent state Treasurer Walker Stapleton and his daughter, Olivia, last October. (Catherine R., Baby Luxe Photography)

There are two parts of the campaign season when money matters most: the beginning and the end. The quarterly fundraising numbers for Colorado’s down-ticket races due at midnight Monday, then, are the half-time show.

Big money at the beginning of a race can frighten away would-be challengers. At the end, dollars often power the late-game heroics.

Incumbent Walker Stapleton is having no problems amassing money from Republican backers for his state treasurer’s race. The Colorado cousin to the Bush political dynasty started the quarter with $434,088 and picked up another $153,339 in cash donations over the last three months. He spent $76,255, leaving him with $511,072 headed into the summer’s campaign to define candidates and issues.

An anti-tax rally over retail marijuana in September gave away free pot and also tried to rally people against Proposition AA, a taxation ballot issue. (Joe Amon, The Denver Post)

The campaign backing a measure to impose new taxes on recreational marijuana has out-raised tax opponents by more than 17-to-1 and outspent opponents by 22-to-1, a Denver Post analysis of campaign finance reports shows.

The Committee for Responsible Regulation, the campaign group formed to support Proposition AA on this year’s ballot, has raised about $67,000 in monetary and in-kind contributions as of its most recent finance filing earlier this week. The group opposed to the tax, simply named No Over Taxation, has raised about $3,800 in monetary and in-kind contributions, according to its filings.

Tax proponents have also vastly out-spent opponents, but the large majority of the proponent’s expenditures have gone toward paying consultants and fund-raising expenses. The Committee for Responsible Regulation has spent about $52,000, with nearly $50,000 of that falling under the category of “Consultant and Professional Services.”

Among the consulting expenses are $14,000 to the political firm RBI Strategies, $8,000 to marijuana activist Steve Fox, $8,000 to communications professional Joe Megyesy and $10,000 to the law firm Vicente Sederberg. All of that money — $40,000 in total — went to people and groups that worked on the successful campaign to legalize marijuana, which gave rise to the tax vote.

Fund-raising expenses account for about another $1,600 of the proponent’s expenditures. Aside from $4,997 spent on a website and $245.29 spent on a podium and podium signs, the proponent’s filings do not reflect any expenditures on outreach efforts.

In a 2011 photo, state Treasurer Walker Stapleton, flanked by staffers Brett Johnson, at left, and Michael Fortney, joked he “stopped, dropped and rolled” before leaving the Capitol because of a fire alarm. (Lynn Bartels/The Denver Post)

The Secretary of State’s office made campaign finance reports available online Tuesday. Contributions indicate Democrats will have some catching up to do, though we’re still a long way from Election Day. Betsy Markey, the former congresswoman from Fort Collins, raised just shy of $100,000 in the last quarter. Her primary opponent, Broomfield Mayor Patrick Quinn, reported $33,300, putting in $20,000 of his money.

Markey released a statement in a press release Tuesday afternoon, citing support of “grassroots Democrats from all across Colorado.”

“The people of Colorado deserve a full-time treasurer, and I’m humbled and thrilled that so many Coloradans have already joined our campaign,” she stated. “Colorado families watch their bottom lines and live within their means every day. We deserve a state government, and a state treasurer, determined to do the same. A smarter, more efficient, more innovative state treasury will mean a stronger, more prosperous, more confident Colorado economy—that’s what this campaign is all about.”

I posted this Monday night about the Republican incumbent’s remarkable quarter:

Walker Stapleton is packing his war chest full of cash, according to a campaign finance report he is expected to file on Tuesday. The first-term state treasurer probably won’t have a Republican primary challenger to spend it on.

State Rep. Cheri Jahn, D-Wheat Ridge, and former House Speaker Andrew Romanoff at the 7th Congressional District debate in Arvada Thursday. (Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post)

Andrew Romanoff, former speaker of the Colorado House, has been everywhere on the campaign trail it seems and now he’s bringing his political knowledge to the University of Denver.

The Denver Democrat will explore the intersection of money, politics and public policy in his seminar “The Rising Price of American Democracy.” Guests include Secretary of State Scott Gessler, a Denver Republican, and former Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, a Denver Democrat. For information on the classes, which begin next week, click here.

These days, Romanoff is providing commentary for 9News about the 7th Congressional District race. He sent out a fundraising appeal for congressional candidate Sal Pace of Pueblo. He walked precincts with Congressman Ed Perlmutter. He’ll be at a fundraiser for Rep. Daniel Kagan on Saturday.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.